2 Year Old Toddler raped by Uncle in Meghalaya.

SHILLONG: In one of the most horrendous cases to have come out of the Garo Hills area, a two and a half year old toddler was raped by her own maternal uncle near the village of Kherapara, about 30 kms from the town of Tura. The incident which happened on Thursday has seen the alleged culprit arrested by the West Garo Hills (WGH) police and produced before the court on Friday.

The rape has been so severe that the small girl has been crying even in her sleep and is currently on a liquid diet even as doctors have confirmed operations would have to be performed on her.

According to the mother of the victim, “My husband and me went to the field for our daily work and wanted to take the girl with us. However, we put her under the care of her uncle, who wanted to look after her. When we got back we could not find her and went searching everywhere. Finally when we did find her, she was crying and bleeding.”

“Initially we thought it was a leech but when I checked, I was shocked. We immediately took our daughter to Tura for medical care,” added the mother.

An FIR was lodged against the accused, 45-year-old Antonius Marak after which he was arrested.

“On October 22, the father of the victim filed a complaint against the uncle, Antonius Marak of rape at about4:30 pm. According to the victim’s father, the girl was raped at about 2 pm. Acting on the complaint, Marak has been arrested from his house in Bolchugre at Romba Chisakgre and has been remanded to 14 days judicial custody”, said a highly placed police source.

The Deputy Commissioner (DC) WGH, Pravin Bakshi has expressed shock over the incident and promised all forms of help possible. “It is a highly condemnable case and I am shocked at what has happened. She needs immediate medical help and we are monitoring the case. If required, we will shift her to GNRC in Guwahati for further treatment. The act is condemnable in the harshest way and we will look for exemplary punishment for the culprit. This is absolutely ridiculous,” said Bakshi.

Rape and other forms of sexual violence are on the rise in Meghalaya. On October 5, a teenager was found dead after being sexual harassed for several months by her stepfather in a forested area, near Williamnagar in East Garo Hills (EGH). (NNN)